The present invention relates to a novel subfile and method for organizing into subfiles documents including papers and/or other things in an office file folder or the like, for separate removal and replacement without removal of any other document including a paper or subfile, and in particular to the system and devices necessary to accomplish the same.
The maintenance of files in most offices presents a great many problems. In general the files are normally arranged with individual pieces of paper or groups of papers stapled together and then set one upon the other chronologically. Each individual paper, set or group of papers is punched with holes and held to the file folder generally by a prong type foldable fastener such as an "ACCO" fastener, although other clips or fastening means are sometimes also employed. Unfortunately, when one or more earlier filed papers at the bottom or middle of the file must be referred to or separated from the file, it is necessary and difficult to remove the papers above it before getting to the exact group of papers needed, let alone the exact paper that is desired to be removed.
The way this is presently done is that the removable or openable fastener holding all the papers is opened, the groups of papers or paper above the desired one are removed from the prongs of the fastener, then the group of desired papers are removed from the prongs of the fastener, and finally, the undesired papers previously removed are now returned back onto the prongs of the fastener. Sometime later when it is desired to return the select papers to the file, the process is reversed and repeated with the added disadvantage that in addition to manipulating the papers in the file, one also has to manipulate the group of papers previously removed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and system for organizing files into groups of subfiles by which voluminous separate files or papers may be divided into manageable sections or groups and in which each section or group can be easily removed from the entire file, temporarily or permanently and then replaced very readily and easily into the file again without having to disturb any of the remaining groups of papers in the overall file.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method and system in file organization to permit individual, single page or double page documents, which have been "ACCO'd" into the file and which lie beneath numerous other papers that have been filed chronologically thereafter, to be easily removed from the entire file, temporarily or permanently, and then replaced very readily and easily in the same chronological place from which it was taken without disturbing any of the remaining papers in the overall file.
An attempt at organizing a file folder is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,883 in which groups of papers are separately bound by prong fasteners onto a card backing and the several groups then stacked and bound together by another prong fastener into the file folder. In order to remove any group of papers and/or other documents and in particular a single paper from any of the groups, it was necessary to unbind an entire group from its backing, thus leaving the backing bound into the file folder and the individual papers in each group loosely arranged and removed from the folder.
This arrangement obviously does not permit the temporary or permanent removal of the files from the file folder, either as separate papers or in groups in a simple or an expeditious manner. The arrangement disclosed in this patent seems to present a greater problem than that found in the conventional prior art file folders in that in order to remove a single paper, an entire set or group of papers have to be removed and loosely maintained exterior of the file. In addition, this arrangement makes the file folders rather cumbersome and heavy in that the card backing adds to the overall size, weight, and bulk of the file without providing any real advantage.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a simple low-cost system for organizing file papers and for separating such papers into defined, pre-determined sets so that a given one or set of papers or documents can be removed without having to remove any of the papers or documents superposed thereabove.
The foregoing objects, together with other objects will be apparent from the disclosure of the present invention given hereafter.